Quick, Painless and Easy
by Vashti
Summary: It takes time to rebuild a nation...a family...a woman.
1. Caught Up

**Title**: Caught Up**  
Series**: Quick, Painless and Easy**  
Author**: Vashti**  
Fandom**: Tin Man**  
Series Characters**: Cain, Azkadellia, ensemble  
**Rating**: G**  
Summary**: It's been sixteen years since she's had real peace.**  
Length**: 100 words  
**Prompt:** connection**  
Series Disclaimer**: I don't know you, you don't know me. Let's keep it that way. Series title from a song by the band Ivy.**  
Feedback**: it's like air.**  
Author's Note**: stories in this series were written for the seasonal prompt challenge at the tm_challenge community on livejournal. To see my prompt table, please check my homepage.

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Caught Up  
by Vashti

Ahamo continued smoothing his daughter's eyebrow with his thumb. She had stirred when he first sat beside her. Her eyes had open at his first touch. Then she'd seen him. The light and fire and fear and fury had died. She'd gone back to sleep. Now, though he smoothed her black brows or carded her hair she neither stirred nor woke.

The Prince Consort looked up from his daughter's face. "Mr. Cain." Former Tin Man, uncategorized soldier, he didn't yet have a title, except _Honorable_. "How long has Az slept today?"

"Today? Thirteen hours, sir."

"And all told?"

"Two days."

Fin[ite]


	2. 10:30, Tuesday Night

**Title**: 10:30, Tuesday Night**  
Series**: Quick, Painless and Easy**  
Author**: Vashti**  
Rating**: PG**  
Summary**: Some reactions are involuntary.**  
Length**: 200 words**  
Prompt:** nature**  
Feedback**: it's like air.**  
Author's Note**: see the first story for disclaimers and notes.  
**AN2**: This is the short version of this story. If you would like to read the long version, please check my livejournal community, August 85th.

* * *

10:30, Tuesday Night  
by Vashti

He doesn't know why he does it. Doesn't want to know.

It's reflexive.

She's tried to stand too soon.

Before he knows it, he's crossed the room and carried her into the lavatory.

He holds her. She's been here nearly non-stop since she woke. She's been plied her with soft, plain, food. Only to have it brought up again and again and again.

She's crying, sobbing, when it's all over.

Cain lowers her to the tiled floor. She seems to relish its coldness.

It takes a while, a long while, but she seems to gather strength from the floor. Strength enough to make it to her knees. But no more.

Trembling arms can't hold her. She falls backward. Onto him.

He stiffens.

It's reflexive.

She cringes. Whispers an apology. She tries to pull herself along with one hand and goes nowhere.

Cain wraps an arm around her.

"No," she protests faintly.

He gets his other arm under her legs, stands and takes her back into her suite.

She bats at him, stubborn as her sister with a stick

The sheets are already disturbed. He'll have to remind someone to change them.

She turns from him.

Cain stands. And he watches.

Fin[ite]


	3. Known and Unknowing

**Title**: Known and Unknowing  
**Series**: Quick, Painless and Easy  
**Author**: Vashti  
**Rating**: PG  
**Summary**: Azkadellia has made up her mind and she willing to live, and die, by that decision.  
**Length**: 1100 words  
**Prompt**: secret  
**Feedback**: it's like air.  
**Author's Notes**: see the first story for disclaimer and notes

* * *

Known and Unknowing  
by Vashti

DG let herself fall against Cain's side. "Eight whole hours without puking her guts up," she said with a sigh. "First time she's kept anything down, too."

Cain patted her side. "I know."

Scrubbing her hands over her face, it was all she could do to keep from resting all of her weight against her friend's side. "I miss my bed. I miss it so bad, Cain. But I'm scared to leave her."

"I think she's good, Deeg." Cain looked down at her. "And your father's got the next shift. He'll see to her."

"I know, but—"

"Get some rest, sweetheart."

She looked up. "What about you?"

"I'll catch some winks when your father's guard gets here."

Nodding, DG pushed herself away from Cain's side. " 'Kay, then. I will…make the long trek to my room."

"Across the hall."

"All the way across the hall." She frowned, scrunching her nose and looking years younger for it. "Really? Just across the hall? It seems a lot farther."

Cain gave her a kind smile. "I'm not surprised. Goodnight, Princess."

DG could only manage a wave as she turned on her heel and headed for the door. It was pushed open before she get her hand on the knob. The Royal Consort stepped inside, his guard only a few steps behind. His troubled expression melted away when he saw DG. "Hey there, Kiddo. How's it going?"

She managed a wan smile for her father. "Okay. Az hasn't tossed her cookies or her saltines all day."

Ahamo's face lit up. "That sound great. So you're going to bed?"

_"Yes!"_

Chuckling silently, he embraced his daughter then saw her out the door and across the hallway into her own bedroom. When he returned his eyes immediately went to Cain. "How has she been, Mr. Cain."

He shifted on his feet. "Just as DG said. Kept all her food down, such as it is. Not much for conversation, though she was awake most of the day. Been sleeping these last couple of hours."

"Like before?" Ahamo asked with some concern.

"Doesn't seem—"

Cain went flying across the room.

He shook his head to clear it. The other two men stared. Then their eyes began to sweep the room.

Ahamo took a step towards the bed. "Azkadellia?"

Hair in disarray, she was standing on the bed, left hand extended. She looked wan and thin but determined.

"Azkadellia." The Prince Consort took another step forward. His daughter turned her eyes on him. Eyes that didn't really see him.

"Highness…" His guard put a hand on Ahamo's shoulder, intent on drawing him back.

Azkadellia's eyes rested on him instead.

"Trotter! Ahamo!" Cain shouted from the floor. "Get down!"

The window behind them shattered. Azkadellia bounded off the bed. She pounced on her father, pushing him away from his guard and into the base of the window seat. The cool Autumn evening air set her hair and nightgown streaming.

Cain could see something like lines of heat gather around the pair of them, just as he'd seen around the princess' hand. Trotter had already regrouped. A former Tin Man himself, he knew how to break up a brawl. He made as if to get an arm around Azkadellia's neck or her waist as Cain struggled to get upright.

The man screamed. Even from across the room, Cain could see the smoke coming from the other guard's jacket. He raced to his side, one eye on the battling royals. "What happened?"

"Don't know. Reached for her and… I got shocked. I got burnt. Don't know."

Ahamo was doing his best, but it was obvious he was trying not to hurt his daughter—and that Azkadellia didn't feel the same. Hand shaped like claws, she was reaching for his throat while his own hands fended her off. He tried bucking her off, but both Cain and Trotter could see that the princess was too well planted.

The door burst open and DG tumbled inside. "I heard something and— What's going on?!" She tried to run to her father and sister's side. Cain caught her around the waist. "What are you doing?" Her voice was frantic.

"Can't. Your sister did something and no one can touch her." Trotter held up his arm to back up Cain's words. "Can you bring it down?"

"It? What is 'it'?" But then she saw the rising heat waves. Her face paled. "I don't know. I've never seen anything like that before." She was breathing hard, as if she'd raced up the stairs and not just across the hall. "What happened?"

Both men shook their heads. They hadn't a clue.

Just then Ahamo seemed to get the better of his daughter. He'd twisted hard to one side and Azkadellia was thrown off balance. But to do it he'd had to lessen some of his upward push against her clawed hands. She tumbled sideways but not enough. And now she pressed the slight advantage. They could see her flushed, wild expression and the way the muscles in her arms and necks strained. Ahamo was red from his exertions.

"I'm getting my mother."

Cain nodded but didn't watch DG go. Keeping a steady eye on the combatants, he hopped onto the bed and crossed it. From the other side he picked up the spindly chair at the vanity.

"What're you gonna try, Cain? Prying them apart?"

Crossing the bed again, he shook his head. He hopped down. "Nope."

He swung the chair hard, smacking Azkadellia in the side. The chair-legs flew broke as Azkadellia tumbled off her father.

The lines of heat vanished. The Prince Consort turned to his side, coughing just as bad as if he had been strangled.

Azkadellia was out cold.

With Trotter's help, Ahamo made it to his feet. "She all right?"

Cain's eyebrows went up. "Are _you_ all right."

Ahamo waved away his own needs with a gesture. "She was having a waking dream. She thought I…all of us… She thought we were the Witch." Stumbling at first, but quickly steadier, he went to Azkadellia's side. Cain stepped aside to let him pass, watching as he knelt beside his daughter.

"She thought she'd come back." He coughed again. "She thought… She said she wouldn't let me, let _her_, take over again. She'd kill the Witch first. She'd kill herself."

"Don't you mean she'd kill _you_," Cain said.

"Sure. Except—" Ahamo coughed, shook his head. He looked over his shoulder at Cain and Trotter, who had come to stand beside his fellow guard. "She thought it was all going on in her head."

Fin[ite]


	4. Seams

**Title:** Seams  
**Series:** Quick, Painless and Easy  
**Author:** Vashti  
**Rating:** PG  
**Summary:** Victory is in the eye of the beholder.  
**Length:** ~900 words  
**Prompt:** simmer  
**Author's Notes:** See the first part for disclaimer and notes  
**AN2:** Thank you to everyone who's shown interest in the series. I really am quite surprised! Truly it's been your feedback that pushed me to get this out sooner than later. Also, this is not beta'd, as usual (although I did delay a day in posting to at least give it a quick read-through). If you see something, please mention it. I'm always happy to have a spot beta.

* * *

Seams  
by Vashti

The Queen's antechamber was surprisingly small. There was enough room to pace—as the Princess had proved—for a table not more than three, maybe four, feet long holding refreshments. There were also five cushioned chairs that were only comfortable for so long. Cain guessed they were meant for the royal pages, who wouldn't be sitting on them long enough to feel the discomfort. The food was probably for them, too, as well as the Queen. She probably picked up a sweetmeat or a glass of water before going into or coming out of her receiving room.

It wasn't a place meant for lingering.

He and Princess Azkadellia had been sitting (or standing or pacing) in the room for two hours. Pages had come and gone. DG had been through to see them twice. An agitated Ambrose had gone rushing through the room, a one man whirlwind that hadn't noticed them at all as he argued with himself and his notes. Ahamo had come and sat with his daughter for a spell before going back into the receiving room. None of the other men and women on the other side of those doors had come anywhere near, nor would they unless the Queen herself invited them.

They had not seen the Queen since she'd passed through antechamber into the receiving room beyond. She'd stopped, given Princess Azkadellia a kiss on both cheeks, then preceded the rest of the party (DG, the Consort, Ambrose, a Minister Cain didn't know and three pages) into the receiving room. They could hear everyone rising in the presence of their queen on the other side, even with the door separating them. They could hear the order to be seated. And they could hear the arguing.

Princess Azkadellia had still been wan and pale from her sleeplessness when she had fallen ill. The sleeplessness had returned after the incident with her father. It made her hesitant to be with company at night, which Cain didn't mind. He got to sleep outside the door. And she was once again wan and pale.

Her obvious lack of health had turned her eyes big and bright, like someone with a very high fever or a lasting sickness. She was always cool to the touch, or so DG fretted. She fretted that her sister's skin had taken on a luminescence; she seemed as fragile and fluttery as a butterfly fresh out of its cocoon. Cain thought she looked like someone who should be helped into and out of bed, who needed another's arm to make it down a hall. But she managed well enough. At any rate she refused all help, including DG's, whether she needed it or not. Sometimes that meant taking it slow. Sometimes it meant staying at a place longer than intended.

Standing next to the entrance to the receiving room, Cain watched the Princess Azkadellia perched in her chair. Her hands were folded in her lap.

Waiting.

The dark crown of braided hair and the russet gown the Queen had modified for her made the Princess seem paler than she was. She looked even more anxious. He was sure she was trying to hide it.

The door to the receiving room opened. Cain straightened and Princess Azkadellia rose from her chair as the Queen stood framed in the door. With an extended hand, she drew her daughter to her side. Cain fell in behind them. The rest of the royal retinue followed as the Queen set a brisk pace. She led them out of the room and into the narrow, back-halls that would bring them to the public areas of the palace. Cain couldn't follow their conversation. With no less than ten people behind him, none of them were very quiet even if they weren't making idle chitchat. They were the Queen's personal staff after all, and somewhere amongst them were the Consort and DG. But they could have been silent as the grave and still made too much noise, Cain reasoned. That many people wearing that much frippery just couldn't help themselves.

The Queen stopped just outside the door that would take them into the public area of the palace.

Cain raised a hand to stop the party before they could run into each other.

She turned to face the Princess Azkadellia. There weren't any true windows here, but the enchanted ones did a good job of pretending to let in daylight. Somehow, though, the princess managed to stand in her mother's shadow. The Queen took her daughter's hands and raised them to her lips before drawing her into a hug. The murmuring died down as everyone made an effort to disappear into the background.

When she pulled back, the Queen took Princess Azkadellia's face in her hands, framing it gently. "Now we can finally put this behind us and move forward. Rebuild the country. Rebuild our family."

Azkadellia smiled, limp and close-lipped. "Yes."

"Oh my daughter!" The Queen threw her arms around her eldest child again, pulling her into a fierce hug that the princess didn't have the strength to return. Cain watched as Princess Azkadellia closed her eyes, seemingly tired and defeated.

Disentangling herself, the Queen pushed open the door with her magic, setting the whole party in motion again. She tucked her child's arm into her own, patting the wrist.

From behind, it seemed to Cain that the princess lost some of her luminescent glow.


	5. Wick

**Title:** Wick  
**Series:** Quick, Painless and Easy  
**Author:** Vashti  
**Rating:** PG  
**Summary:** "He knelt and with his knife cut the lifeless-looking branch through, not far about the earth." _The Secret Garden_ by Frances Hodgson Burnett  
**Length:** ~1000 words  
**Prompt:** proximity  
**Author's Notes:** See the first part for disclaimer and notes

* * *

Wick  
by Vashti

It was entirely inappropriate, but Cain couldn't help the amusement DG's pacing the hall was causing him. Though he was trying for DG's sake if no one else's. The girl had been sorely tried the last five or six weeks. The last five or six days might have been the worst. He felt bad for her. Seemed like things had gone from bad to worse the moment she'd rediscovered her lost family. The monarchy was slowly reconsolidating its powerbase, but it seemed to be the only thing reconsolidating.

Azkadellia continued to fall apart.

"I don't understand," DG cried. Her hands had found a permanent home in her hair. "Mom isn't going to let them hang her, the Tower is coming down, we're all together again…" She pressed the heels of her hands into her eyes as she dropped into a squat. "I don't understand Cain. I don't understand. The doctors say nothing is wrong, Mom's magic says nothing is wrong. _I_ can't find—"

"What's Raw got to say about it?"

DG pulled her hands from her eyes and slowly raised her head. Her face was stricken. Her lips parted but she didn't speak. Cain held her gaze for what felt like a long time, until she jumped up and began pacing again.

"DG."

"No."

"DG."

"This time Raw is wrong. He's…he's…"

"What? Mis-viewed her?" Cain raised an eyebrow as he watched her.

Ahamo slipped out of the room and into the hall with them. He expected it would be an hour, maybe two, before the Queen came down herself. The Zipperhead wouldn't be around until much later, if he kept to schedule.

Cain could see Ahamo assessing the situation as he glanced between DG, now standing by a window with her arms crossed, and Cain still guarding the door. He gave the Tin Man a nod before going to his daughter's side. There was a pained look in the Consort's eyes, Cain noticed.

From where he was standing, Cain couldn't hear what Ahamo was telling his daughter, but he saw the man slip an arm around her shoulders as Cain let himself into Princess Azkadellia's room.

The room was bright. Every light was on despite the bright sunlight streaming through several windows. The bed was still dark. Death had that way about it.

But the Princess wasn't in the bed, for once. She was seated by a window in one of the enormous wingchairs that seemed to be everywhere in the palace. Its high back blocked most of the light and seemed to swallow her whole.

Cain went down before the princess, balancing on the balls of his feet. Her hands were on the arms of the chair and he placed his over them. They were cold and thin. Even under his hands they felt insubstantial. He wouldn't be surprised to feel the texture of the fabric and not the texture of royal skin if he shifted his hands over hers. The princess didn't seem to notice or see him.

"Princess." When she didn't react, he tried her name. "Princess Azkadellia." When that didn't work, he squeezed her hands, trying her name again.

He squeezed harder, feeling her fingers collapse against each other as his hands totally wrapped around hers. He could feel the shift of knuckle bones. He knew from doing this with Jeb that it didn't hurt since she wasn't resisting him, but it would be uncomfortable. But a little more pressure and it _would_ be painful. And not long after that things would start to break.

He took a deep breath.

She looked at him. "Mr. Cain."

"Am I hurting you, Princess?"

Instead of answering, she turned her head, air escaping her in a sigh.

Cain squeezed her hands again. Harder.

She gasped and looked at him.

"No you don't, Princess. I got something to say and you need to hear it."

He was close enough that, if she wanted to, she could have kicked Cain over. But she stared into his eyes as she blinked back tears.

"I know what you're trying to do. Knew it before Raw came down here. I suspect your father did as well. If I'd thought the Queen and your sister would've listened to me, I would have told them and saved him the trouble. I can only figure that Ahamo'd already tried.

"I also know they've all been in here to talk to you. I think I can guess what they've said. I figure it's my turn to say my piece."

He could see her lapsing back into herself, and it just made everything…more.

"I know you're willing yourself to die, Princess. The Queen and DG are about the only two who can't see it. You think you deserve to die, maybe. Or maybe you think it's the only way you'll be at peace." He fully loosened his grip on her hands, though he didn't let her go. "I don't know. And I don't care.

"The truth is, Princess, you owe the OZ. Every last one of us. There's no Sorceress left. There's nothing the Zone can put its finger to. We can't hate the Queen. She sacrificed for us. Can't hate the Consort. Not after we found out he was the Underground. And DG saved us. That only leaves you, Princess. What right do you have to take that away from us? Maybe you couldn't have stopped her when you were a kid, but you haven't been a kid for a long time. People start to wonder if maybe you didn't want to stop her. A lot of good men and women died because you didn't act. Families broken. Villages wiped out.

"Your life doesn't belong to you, Princess. It belongs to the Zone."

The tears glistened in the shadows as she held his gaze. She was trembling under his hands. "I'm a royal princess," she whispered. "It always has."

Cain released her hands and stood. "Then act like it."

Fin[ite]


	6. Two Hands

**Title:** Two Hands  
**Series:** Quick, Painless and Easy  
**Author:** Vashti  
**Rating:** G  
**Summary:** There are always two hands.  
**Length:** ~160 words  
**Prompt:** under  
**Author's Notes:** See the first part for disclaimer and notes

* * *

Two Hands  
by Vashti

"I used to think love was about control," Azkadellia said softly, seeming to speak to no one though Cain stood silently behind her. Standing in a window, she watched DG walking in the gardens with a potential suitor. She was sure her sister, with her curious Other Side sensibilities, didn't realize the young man's intentions. They were, after all, just two members of a sizable garden party. Likely the young man had expressed an interest in exploring the renewed greenery. This wasn't the first tour DG had given.

Azkadellia touched the glass with a trembling hand.

"Or perhaps that was the Witch." Though her face was in profile, Cain caught her thoughtful frown.

"It could be hard to tell."

She withdrew her hand from the glass, tucking it into borrowed pockets. "DG was always—"

"Your Highness!"

Cain and Azkadellia turned at the page's voice. "The royal couple have been looking for you, Your Highness."

They trailed the page into the fresh air and bright sun.

Fin[ite]


	7. Change is Gonna Come

**Title:** Change is Gonna Come  
**Series:** Quick, Painless and Easy  
**Author:** Vashti  
**Rating:** G  
**Summary:** The Royal Couple want to make Cain their Tin Man  
**Length:** ~770 words  
**Prompt:** plans  
******Dedication:** Any and everyone who is still interested in this series. Thank you so much! I certainly don't deserve it.**  
Author's Notes:** See the first part for disclaimer and notes. Additional notes at end.

* * *

"Mr. Cain." The Queen gestured to the bench in front of her. "Please take a seat."

"Thank you, ma'am, but I really should—"

Her smile, though pleasant, didn't do much to brighten up her face. "I'm sure Azkadellia will not come to any harm if you let her be for just a few moments."

Cain wasn't. From the expression on the Consort's face he wasn't hiding his opinion very well. But he nodded and took the seat, glad that he had his coat against the springtime chill. The Royals had a brazier set in the middle of the assorted chairs and benches to ward off the cold. It was dead now, and the seats around him were empty. Cain had seen quite a few people wandering the gardens while Princess Azkadellia had stood at the window. He could only figure some or all of them had been the ones sitting here under the white canopy among all the ready-to-bud flowering hedges. Had the royal couple waited until their guests had left on their own, or had they sent them away?

Cain shook his head when a footman offered him a glass of cold water, and then again when he was offered a dainty cup of tea. When the footman disappeared, he was alone with the Queen and Consort. No, there was a page sitting unobtrusively beside and behind the Queen with a small writing desk on her lap. Her pen was busily working, but from where he sat he couldn't tell whether she was drawing or writing.

"Thank you for waiting on us, Mr. Cain." The Queen's smile had already faded, leaving behind a faintly troubled expression. It was one she'd been wearing in private for some time, however, so that in itself didn't raise any alarm.

Being thanked, on the other hand… "No trouble at all, ma'am."

"I know you take your duties as our daughter's protector very seriously."

He could only nod.

"Which is why we have a proposition for you."

Cain felt his lips thin.

The Consort sat forward. "The threat to Azkadellia's life is pressing and immediate. We know that. It's also unlikely to change during her lifetime."

An argument Cain had already had with himself, so he trusted his expression didn't change when he heard the Consort say it.

"What no one has really talked about is the threat to the rest of the family."

Cain frowned. "Sir?"

"We are all of us, Lav, myself and DG, as at risk of assassination as Azkadellia. If for different reasons," he conceded.

Times like this, Adora use to say that she could see the wheels turning behind his eyes. Cain already knew what the Consort, and the Queen, wanted. If he were honest with himself, he'd say that he had already considered it. But it wasn't his place to put it out there. Maybe they were just asking questions.

"You're thinking you're going to need a permanent guard."

The Consort nodded.

The Queen reached across the narrow space and laid a hand over Cain's where it rested on his knee. "It pains me to ask, but we will continue to need your services, Mr. Cain."

He nodded.

"We would like you to be Captain of this guard, Mr. Cain," she said, settling back in her seat. "You would be at complete liberty to choose the best from the ranks of the army, and anywhere else you might find talented soldiers."

The Consort took his wife's hand. "The OZ has never had anything like bodyguards for the royal family. You would be free to design it from the ground up."

"Can I take a couple of days to think about it?"

Both royals nodded. "We would like to begin building the Guard as soon as possible," the Queen said as she stood.

Cain and the Consort hastily followed suit. The little page, Cain noticed, did not.

"I would like to say you can take as much time as you please, but the danger is too present. If you could—"

"I'll have—" Cain stopped himself, realizing his error. "I'm sorry, You're Majesty. I didn't mean to cut you off."

She waved a negligent hand. "If you could make a decision before the end of next week?"

Cain bowed. "Saturday."

The Queen smiled and Cain found out where DG got it from. The royal couple escorted him out of the enclosure.

He stopped them at the opening. "DG's not going to like this."

Mischief was also, apparently, an inherited trait.

Fin[ite]

* * *

**AN2**: While looking for something to write the other day, I came across my unpublished QPE stories and was shocked to see that they were two years old! I'd been sitting on them with a purpose, but after 2 years it seems quite silly. Anywho, I can promise you four more stories, posted a week apart, before the current well runs dry.


	8. A Step Too Far

**Title:** A Step Too Far?  
**Series:** Quick, Painless and Easy  
**Author:** Vashti  
**Rating:** PG  
**Summary:** The Royal Couple want to make Cain their Tin Man  
**Length:** ~1140 words  
**Prompt:** split  
******Dedication:** KLCtheBookworm...this part was specifically inspired by your review and our brief exchange re "Two Hands"  
**Author's Notes:**See the first part for disclaimer and notes. Additional notes at end.

* * *

Azkadellia felt Mr. Cain's eyes on her as her mother drew him away. She knew that it went against the grain to walk away from his duty, and that she was his duty, but there was no disobeying the Queen.

"Az, not those. Over here," DG called..

A smile tugged at Azkadellia's lips. There was a time, both close and too far away, when those words would have heralded trouble. "I'm sorry, Deeg. It's been some time since I've been in the gardens." Azkadellia joined her sister, "I suppose I find it all more diverting than I ought."

DG's smile was bright and beautiful. "I'm sure it can't be worse than the stupid expression I must have had on my face for weeks after we moved in." She linked her arm through Azkadellia's. "Even completely covered in dust and drop cloths this place is amazing."

Arm in arm the sisters slowly and silently strolled through the gardens. Their walk would eventually bring them back to the garden party, albeit by a looping, twisting path, and so they were content to simply enjoy each other's company.

DG let her fingers drift over a waist high scrim of flower. They waved and nodded under her touch. A few turned colors. A grin on her face, DG turned to her sister. "I dreamed about this. About this garden and these flowers."

Azkadellia nodded as they walked along, briefly leaving the flowers behind for a tall darkly green hedge. "You were remembering in the only way that you could."

"It's better in person."

Azkadellia smiled. "I'm sure. You weren't one for idly studying flowers as a girl. Although you always did like these."

DG's brows went up. "Do you remember why?"

_"Because they do something."_ Azkadellia's imitation of her sister as a child was spot-on.

Chuckling, DG opened her mouth to speak when a hand reached out of the hedge and pulled her off-balance. "What in the-" Stunned, it took DG a moment to attempt to pull away.

The hand, and the arm it belonged to, became more forceful. "Hey!"

DG's exclamation snapped Azkadellia out of her own shock. She leapt forward and grabbed her sister's other arm. They twined their arms together and, by unspoken agreement, pulled with one long, hard effort.

The assailant came crashing through the hedge, bringing several of its inner branches with him.

"You!" DG growled.

Azkadellia's head snapped to DG. "You know him?"

DG nodded. "I was walking with him before you and Mr. Cain came down to the party."

"Then what-" Azkadellia cut herself off, pulling DG back as her assailant staggered to his feet.

"Princess..."

"What the heck was that about?!" DG demanded as Azkadellia menaced, "Stay away from my sister!"

Ignoring them both, he reached for DG's hand. "Princess, just a mo- _Aaaah! Help me!_"

It happened almost without thought. One moment the lordling was reaching for DG, and in the next Azkadellia's left arm was out and she had pinned him to the hedge, several feet above the ground. "I said stay away from my sister."

"Yeah!"

The lordling was shrieking, but DG had an arm twined through Azkadellia's. She could feel DG's delight like a physical thing battering at the aura of magic at her core. The power crackled and raised the small hairs on her outstretched arm. She wondered that DG couldn't feel it. She wanted to tell the lordling to shut up, but his name escaped her even as his reddening face became more familiar to her eye.

"What's going on here, Princess?"

DG answered Mr. Cain before Azkadellia could decide who the words were directed to. "That's a great question. Ask him. He started it."

"Maybe if Princess Azkadellia will be so kind as to set him on his feet."

The lordling fell in a tangle of gangly limbs and leaves when Azkadellia withdrew her hand. Azkadellia had meant to set him down gently, but she was too angry. The self-righteous twerp had dared to mishandle DG. His continued indignant squalling wasn't helping. She still wasn't used to not acting on her anger.

Azkadellia laced her fingers through DG's as her sister began arguing with her Tin Man. Their words didn't register, only the insistent itch of her palms and the heavy gaze of those now looking on. Guests had drifted toward them, no doubt drawn by the lordling's cries. Azkadellia saw over and through them—until she spied her mother's coils.

"...not speak to a Princess of the Realm that way. Seems you've forgotten that the OZ is an absolute monarchy, whether or not it's run that way."

What the lordling could have said about DG to get that kind of reaction out of Wyatt Cain, Azkadellia couldn't imagine, but it brought the mewling noble back to his senses. While it wasn't likely their mother would take his holdings just for insulting one of her daughters, even her favorite, he had laid his hands on her. That was a punishable offense.

Eyes flashing fire, their mother entered the clearing, their father at her elbow and clearly the calmer of the two. They had, it seemed, heard everything. "You will apologize."

"Respectfully, Your Majesty, I will apologize to the Princess Dorothigale for I did not mean to either frighten or harm her. But I have nothing to say to her sister who meant me every harm."

Azkadellia turned to DG. "Apologize to me?" she asked _sotto voce_.

"Yeah," DG said in kind. "You heard what Cain said!"

"No, I didn-"

"Then you are banished from this court until I see fit to reinstall you," their mother said to the lordling.

"But Az-" He'd caught the Tin Man's eye. "-the Princess Azkadellia was-"

"Defending her sister from an unknown assailant," the Queen finished for him. "Quite understandable in these difficult days. You must count yourself fortunate that Mr. Cain wasn't with them. He is, after all, charged with the safety of my children and thus carries a loaded weapon at all times."

Silence reigned on the lawns, though DG was shivering with excited energy.

Finally, the lordling spoke. "If I could but explain, Majesty."

"I fear it will have to be in writing," their father said. "I believe your Queen has just banished you from court." And, indeed, their mother had already turned to the other guests as Ahamo spoke. "The Queen prefers sincerity and brevity to flowers and useless flattery," he added. Then he, too, turned away.

Azkadellia tugged DG closer and deliberately resumed their walk as if nothing had happened. But it had. She'd noted who had agreed with Mr. Cain and their mother. She'd also noted who had sided with Haddon. She'd finally remembered his name, although she would always associate it with the sneer on his face when he'd said hers.

Fin[ite]

* * *

**AN2**: While looking for something to write the other day, I came across my unpublished QPE stories and was shocked to see that they were two years old! I'd been sitting on them with a purpose, but after 2 years it seems quite silly. Anywho, I can promise you three more stories, posted a week apart, before the current well runs dry.


	9. That Party Dress

**Title:** That Party Dress  
**Series:** Quick, Painless and Easy  
**Author:** Vashti  
**Rating:** PG  
**Summary:** Azkadellia thought she might prefer assassins.  
**Length:** ~651 words  
**Prompt:** symbol  
**Author's Notes:**See the first part for disclaimer and notes. Additional notes at end.

* * *

Nothing. Reams and reams of cloth covered in pounds of metal, notions, hook-and-eyes, and leather were everywhere, but not one article in her closet was suitable to wear.

Azkadellia's eyes roamed over the blacks, grays, and heavy metals of her daytime wardrobe-and the deceptively soft creams, girlish pastels, and feminine silks of her sleeping clothes. And then there were the things that defied categories: high stiff collars made of feathers or leather, bodices made of papay bone inset with precious stones and held together with gold wire, a long full skirt made from the skin of one of the Witch's precious mobats after it had died. She'd only worn it once: even the Witch had felt the particular weight of that one, though it had been paired with a simple wrap-shirt made from cloth-of-gold.

Remembering the shirt, Azkadellia dove into the clothing around her. Despite the color it was relatively demure. She could ask DG to dull the shine of the gold, or maybe a good soaking in something acidic would do it. Perhaps the gold had tarnished on its own. That would do.

She found her chain mail overdress. She found armbands inscribed with runes from the ancients, and then the greaves that were part of the set, though she'd never worn them. The goldsmiths had incorrectly worked the runes on the left one. She'd had his left hand sacrificed for the mistake, and then regretted not turning him over to the Alchemists before he'd run off.

She found her gold armor.

Finally she remembered that she'd had the gold in the cloth-of-gold painstakingly picked apart and melted down to help create the shoulder guards in her hand. Fury flashed through her. Azkadellia threw first one shoulder guard, then the other, across the room. The first one cracked the mirror inside her open armoir. The second brought it crashing to the carpet in a tinkling cascade of glass and silver. Even the wood behind it was dented.

Her hands were grasping for something else to throw when the outer door of her suite clapped against a wall with the resounding thud of solid wood connecting with plaster-covered stone. Her hands stilled. Her heart stuttered. In her head she was silently counting. How long would it take an assassin to cross the sitting room? He'd be taking it at a dead run if he was wise. A sound that loud was likely to bring half the palace. However, it was very likely they wouldn't mind. Perhaps they had abetted him. Perhaps—

Azkadellia's bedroom door was flung open, forcing her from her thoughts. A tall, well-muscled man stood in the doorway, his dark complexion seemingly darker in the tan of a modified Tin Man's uniform. Behind him was a shorter, stockier man who seemed to blend in with the uniform. Their weapons were drawn, but they weren't aiming at her. The two men scanned the room visually then, moving on a non-verbal command Azkadellia recognized from her- from the _Sorceress'_ Longcoats, quickly and efficiently moved through the room, inspecting it.

Satisfied, the taller man holstered his weapon and came to stand in front of Azkadellia, sitting stupidly among clothes she hated and feared. Stony faced he offered her his hand. "Are you all right?" he asked in a voice that was pleasant and polite, but as distant as his expression. She looked from his face to his hand then shook her head.

"No, thank you, Mister...it's Tayborne, isn't it?"

"Yes, Your Highness."

Shaking her head, she said, "Please, there's no need for such formality."

"Yes, Your Highness."

Azkadellia flushed. "Well... As you can see I'm in no danger, save from fits of pique. I assure you it will not happen again."

The other man had come to stand beside his partner. Together they bowed and left. Her Personal Guard.

Azkadellia thought she might have preferred an assassin.

[Fin]ite

* * *

**AN2**: While looking for something to write the other day, I came across my unpublished QPE stories and was shocked to see that they were two years old! I'd been sitting on them with a purpose, but after 2 years it seems quite silly. Anywho, I can promise you two more stories, posted a week apart, before the current well runs dry.


	10. Cover Me

**Title:** Cover Me  
**Series:** Quick, Painless and Easy  
**Author:** Vashti  
**Rating:** G  
**Summary:** The Princess needs a favor. But she's afraid she's asked too much.  
**Length:** ~940 words  
**Prompt:** courage  
**Author's Notes: **See the first part for disclaimer and notes. Additional notes at end.

* * *

If it weren't for the men at her back, Azkadellia would have turned and fled to her rooms upstairs. She didn't have much pride left, but apparently there was enough to keep her walking toward inevitable humiliation.

The rise and fall of women's voices, punctuated by ringing laughter, did nothing to assuage her nerves. Azkadellia stood on the other side of the workroom door trying to slow her fluttering heart. Though the hallway was well lit by the Queen's windows mimicking the daylight above them, she felt the oppressive weight of stone, three levels underground as they were.

Moist heat from the laundry buffeted her before and her guard's stare pushed her from behind. She could only imagine what they thought of her being there. 'Oh, we can do more than imagine, can't we?' The thought came with a fierce sense of pride. And was quickly pushed aside.

Azkadellia squared her shoulders. It didn't matter what her guards thought of her. This had to be done.

The voices stopped the moment she was seen. There were three women gathered around a lengthy table, piled high with clothes in various stages of folding. Beyond them, two or three others were actually doing the washing. Azkadellia immediately recognized the Head Laundress as they all made their curtsy to her. A tall, stout woman, neither fat nor thin, she had worked for the House of Gale all her life. She had married a man loyal to the royal family, and had witnessed that good man's mind being stripped of anything the Sorceress thought might be useful.

"Please." Azkadellia held up a hand to stop them. Per usual, she was ignored. "I apologize for disturbing your work."

"No apology needed, Your Highness." The Head Laundress bobbed another, brief, curtsy.

"I...I have..." Azkadellia swallowed, nervous again. "I have a small favor to ask. Which I know that, of all people, I have the least right to ask for anything," she hastily added.

Pleasant as ever she was, the Head Laundress inclined her head. "How might we serve?"

"No, no. Please don't see this as a service but rather as a request. A request that can be refused without consequence."

It was clear that the women were waiting her to say more. Azkadellia cleared her throat. "Well...that is... I was wondering if any of your women could spare an old dress. Something you or they would have gotten rid of anyway. I am in need of a new wardrobe. Nothing that I..." Azkadellia's eyes dropped to study the silvery gray sheen of the old table's legs. "Nothing that remains of the Sorceress' wardrobe is fit to be worn."

"If you don't mind my asking, Highness," the Head Laundress said gently, "why not change what remains into something more suitable?"

Azkadellia dared not look her in the eye, for fear of what the older woman might see. "My mother is too busy, of course, and that sort of magic is still a bit too fine for DG. And she's very busy as well," she added quickly, lest she make her sister seem incompetent. "And I..." Her hands clenched reflexively. "After years of being forced to it...I would rather not use magic if I don't have to."

She looked up, imploring each woman with her eyes. "Please, anything you have will be suitable. I am not much of a seamstress, but I have nothing if not time on my hands. Learning how to let hems and take in waistlines will likely be the most productive skill I've acquired in the last sixteen years," she said, smiling tremulously. "Besides, if the Queen will not repudiate me the least I can do is not embarrass her."

The expressions she received in return, ranging from sympathy to thinly concealed fear, had her smoothing her slick palms against the skirt of one of DG's awful transformations.

Azkadellia gasped as careworn hands caught her own too-soft ones, enfolding it in surprisingly dry warmth. "Worry not, Your Highness. We shall see to everything."

Pleading with her eyes, she insisted again to the Head Laundress that any castoff would do. "Please don't burden yourself with this, too."

But, like so many others, the woman didn't seem to be listening to her at all as she gently pushed Azkadellia, and her retinue, outside the laundry rooms. After their humid warmth, the stone hallway seemed cold.

Frowning, Cain stood listening outside Princess Azkadellia's door, stepping back when he heard boots approaching. Tayborne, one of his new lieutenants, only looked mildly surprised to see him standing there.

"Is Azkadellia all right in there? I thought I heard crying."

"More like weeping," the lieutenant said. He grinned at the dark look Cain threw him. "She just got a package. Wasn't expecting it."

"What's in there?"

Tayborne, who had to be a foot taller and broader than Cain, shrugged elegantly as he took up his post. "Couple of new dresses she asked for."

"Adora was just the same way whenever she got a pretty gift. I swear, I will never understand women."

Later that night, stationed strategically between the two princesses during dinner, Cain marveled at Azkadellia's earlier emotionality. The dress was nothing to speak of. A muted green, the neck was cut wide enough to show her collar bone but so high that it didn't do much else, while the sleeves and high-waisted skirt were so voluminous they hid most of her shape. It was well tailored, however. Much better tailored than the things DG had been making for her, so it was possible that Azkadellia had been crying tears of sheer joy. But it didn't seem like her.

Fin[ite]


	11. Surety

**Title:** Surety  
**Series:** Quick, Painless and Easy  
**Author:** Vashti  
**Rating:** PG  
**Summary: **No one understands what she's doing, but if it makes Azkadellia happy...  
**Length:** ~900 words  
**Prompt:** perplex  
**Author's Notes: **See the first part for disclaimer and notes. Additional notes at end.

* * *

The first egg seemed to come from of nowhere. Azkadellia's guards reacted swiftly. Lieutenant Tayborne, tall, broad shouldered and, at the moment, darker of look than skin, stepped in front of her. Her other two guards had stepped forward on the platform as they did a visual sweep of the courtyard. Their stoic expressions had become hard

Azkadellia placed a hand on Lt. Tayborne's shoulder. He scarcely glanced back. "Don't worry, Your Highness. We'll find whoever did this."

"No you won't. Leave them be."

"Your Highness—"

"So long as it's only food, I don't mind. I wore these clothes with a purpose."

He did turn then, giving her ill-fitting outfit—one of DG's less than successful attempts at transformative magic—a brief once over. "Be that as it may—"

"_Be_ that as it may, I will not have this person prosecuted. Or even manhandled."

"There may be more, Your Highness."

The gravitas of Lt. Tayborne's voice, even more pronounced than that of DG's Tin Man, didn't scare her. "I expect so. And I expect more to come. You will allow them."

"Your—"

"You _will_ allow them. And you will not guard my person so closely."

"Now Princess—"

Azkadellia didn't know what kept him from completing his sentence. He'd cut himself off. But he did move from standing in front of her. More reluctantly, he bid the two other guardsmen to return.

Only then did she go back to her work on the dais. The dais had been set up in the center of a raised platform in Central City's main public courtyard. A low, ornamental wall surrounded the courtyard, but any passer by could easily see her.

The second egg came half an hour later. Like the first, it didn't reach her person, though it did startle her as had the first. Azkadellia could see her guards tensing in her peripheral vision, but they didn't move closer, nor did they go after the egg-thrower.

Something heavy and wet go her squarely between her shoulder blades not too long after that. She couldn't help the way her shoulders pulled in close, nearly to her ears, as if that would protect her. It was a strange, warm feeling as it soaked her misshapen dress, sliding down the murkily colored fabric. Purposefully releasing the tension in her shoulders, she asked Lt. Tayborne what had hit her.

"A large tomato, Your Highness."

It landed at her feet with a wet plop that she felt through the wood of the dais.

Azkadellia nodded. "Thank you, Lieutenant."

"What do you want me to do if it's a hard food thrown at you?"

Azkadellia turned to look at the head of her personal security detail. "Pardon me?"

"You said that so long as they're only throwing food at you to let it pass. But not everything thrown has to be soft," he said with clipped efficiency, looking her squarely in the eye.

She returned his gaze. "Then I suppose you'll have to warn me to duck. I imagine, however, that most of the things thrown at me _will_ be soft," she said as she turned back to her work. "And quite rotten."

Silence pressed around them broken by the buzz of summer insects and the distant hum of Central City beyond the wooden horse-barriers set up outside the perimeter of the courtyard. Azkadellia knew that she should have let Lt. Tayborne and the others apprehend her attackers, if only because they were trespassing. Her work on the dais was only a small portion of the preparations being made for the end of season festivities to come, though she was virtually alone on this first day. Luckily, not much had been set up in the public space yet, beyond the enormous platform. If the intruders caused damage to anything more than her person it was easily—

Azkadellia turned suddenly. "You will tell me to duck if you notice something painful and not merely embarrassing, won't you?"

Tayborne nodded. "Yes, Your Highness."

She bobbed her head.

ZzzZOooOZzzZ

"Azkadellia! Darling!" The Queen stopped them as they came into the palace through the rear entrance near the stables. While Azkadellia's party numbered only four, including herself, her mother was being followed by a train of guardsmen and groomsmen, with pages in their various forms twining about underfoot. "Whatever have you been doing?"

"Working on my project, Mom. Hello Cecily," she added, bending forward to scratch the head of a small "terrier" scrabbling at her knees.

"Is your project in the nursery with the most rambunctious of the 4 annual olds?"

Straightening, Azkadellia hid her chuckle behind her hand.

"And your guardsmen…" The three men remained at attention, paying more mind to the area around their charge than the charge or their Queen.

"Don't worry, Mom. They are just as they should be. As am I. I must go in to change—"

"Oh, I do say so."

"—before dinner. You'll forgive me for not kissing you?"

The Queen nodded as she watched her daughter leave looking more content than she had in a long time. Sighing, she snapped for her pages who sniffing at the things that had fallen from her daughter's dress. "Come away from that. You don't know where it has been. Before it was on my darling's dress, I mean."

Fin[ite]

* * *

**AN2**: This is the last story from the 2 year old group. I am still writing the series, but I can't promise how long the streak will last.


	12. Not Coming Home

**Title:** Not Coming Home  
**Series:** Quick, Painless and Easy  
**Author:** Vashti  
**Rating:** G  
**Summary: **If Cain wants answers, he'll get answers. But he may not like them.  
**Length:** ~1170 words  
**Prompt:** inexplicable  
**Author's Notes: **See the first part for disclaimer and notes. Additional notes at end.

* * *

Pushing his hat up from his eyes, Cain shoved off the wall as Princess Azkadellia and her detail passed him in the hall. Lt. Clayton Tayborne, head of her detail, gave him a sharp nod of acknowledgment as he fell into step beside them. "Captain."

"Lieutenant."

The Princess, fixated on getting to her rooms as quickly as possible before her ruined dress dripped all through the palace, never noticed the additional presence. Their speedy pace did seem to be thwarting the variety of wet things slowly sliding down her body (not a few of them in her hair), but other things had already dried and were flaking away, sometimes in surprisingly large chunks.

"Is that mashed potatoes?" Cain asked his lieutenant.

"I believe so, sir."

"At least you have some on you this time."

Mouth forming a hard line, Tayborne glanced down at himself but didn't respond.

"We need to talk. I'm sending the new kid, PJ, to fill in for you. Figure out who to leave in charge."

"Yes, sir."

Cain slowed his step, letting the Princess' party outpace him a few feet before turning around to go back to his office.

"So you want to tell me what's going on?" Cain said as Tayborne stepped into what was euphemistically being called his office.

It had been _an_ office at some point, but it had been attached to a bedroom probably meant to house a visiting dignitary . A visiting female dignitary. When he'd first stepped foot inside what would be his headquarters, both the outer and inner rooms were covered in pink flowers in various stages of bloom competed with kindly Gillikin folk who danced with fairies. The effect was…busy to say the least.

Cain had insisted on stripping the wallpaper even before installing a desk or a coat tree. The Queen, coming to check the progress of this new military branch, had sighed when he'd led her through the main area still being set up, and into his office to speak privately. _"I'll tell you a secret,"_ she'd said as he settled himself into a chair opposite, thoroughly uncomfortable sitting behind a desk in her presence. _ "I used to save these rooms for the most supercilious courtiers and officials. I suppose I'll have to find another to fit that purpose."_

Cain had been disturbed to find out there was more than one suite like it in the palace.

Pulling off his hat, Tayborne sat on the other side of his captain's desk. "You know Princess Azkadellia's working on that project for the anniversary."

Cain nodded.

"Seems the good people of Central City are taking the opportunity to show their displeasure at the Princess-not-hanged by pelting her with their overripe foodstuff."

"I've seen the Princess. I figured that part out of my own. What I want to know is why it's still happening."

Tayborne slowly shook his head. "She won't let us stop'em, sir. So long as it's not something that'll hurt her physically we're under orders to let folks be."

Eyes narrowed, Cain leaned back in his chair. "That so?"

"Yes, sir."

"And have there been any incidents?"

Tayborne nodded. "Two so far. Including today."

"And how'd you handle it?"

"We've changed how we guard her to incorporate the Tin Men assigned to the courtyard as lookouts. When they spotted something fishy, they called the alarm and we go the princess down. There's been a few false alarms, which I think gave the Princess more grief than actually getting hit with rotten fruit."

"Oh?"

"Stuff got all over her projects and she had to fix it."

"That shouldn't be a problem. She waves a hand over and its gone."

"That'd be true if she were using her magic, sir."

Cain swore softly. "Forgot about that. All right, so Tin Men on the walls calls a warning, you get the Princess down and out of the way… then what?"

" 'Pending on where the perp is, one of us or one of the Tin Men picks him up. And before you ask, you haven't seen any perps in holding because Princess Azkadellia ordered that it not be charged as a crime against a royal."

Cain swore again, not as softly. "And you let her go on with this because…"

Tayborne shrugged. "Seems to please her, sir."

Eyebrows raised, Cain said, "Being pelted with rotten tomatoes, eggs and moldy bread makes her happy?"

Tayborne shook his head. "Maybe 'pleased' isn't the right word. She's not happy to be covered in filth, and rotten squash actually makes her sick. Just that, more than the working of her project, being an outlet for the people seems to feed something in her. Maybe she feels like it's just penance, or its some Royal thing us peasants can't understand. But for all that she hates how she looks and feels when the day's done, she stands up straighter than she did before she started." Shrugging, he said, "She looks more settled. Kinda like the Sorceress without the evil. She knows who she is."

Cain ran a hand over his mouth and chin. "I don't like this Clayt. I feel like it sets a bad precedent to allow this kind of thing to happen to a monarch, even if she'll never be Queen."

"I agree."

"But I almost can't blame them."

"Neither can I."

"Neither can she," Cain said, sighing. "Well, the Royal Couple haven't said anything to me, though I've seen the Queen watching Princess Azkadellia extra hard lately."

Tayborne nodded. "The Consort pulled her aside the other day on her way out. I couldn't hear what they were saying, but he shot us a dirty look while they were talking. I thought he'd have words, but he let us all go."

"I'll talk to them. See what they want to do, if anything. For now I'm trusting your judgment."

Hearing the dismissal, Tayborne stood. "Yes, sir."

"See you at dinner, Clayt."

"Yup, you too, Cap." He started for the door and stopped. "One thing."

"Yeah?"

"You know I don't much like the Princess—"

"I'd be more surprised if you did."

"—but watching her do this, I respect her more than I did when she came up from under the Witch's hold. What's she's doing is stupid, and it scares her more every day—we can all see it—but every day she's out there the same time, stays the same, keeps at work, and goes back to palace covered in filth without complaining, without retaliating though I swear sometimes I see her ready to react. If she's punishing herself, she's taking it like a grown woman."

"It's commendable."

"I don't know about that, but it's certainly something," Tayborne said, jamming his hat back on his head. "Later, Cap."

Fin[ite]

* * *

**AN3**: This is genuinely new fiction written within the last month or so. I caught up to my 2 year old backlog in the previous story, "Surety". I make no promises for how long this story train is going to run but, in my head at least, the series is nearing its end. Thank you for still reading. I can't tell you enough how much I appreciate it.


	13. High Ground

**Title:** High Ground  
**Series:** Quick, Painless and Easy  
**Author:** Vashti  
**Rating:** PG  
**Summary:** Cain goes about implementing the Royals' plan for bodyguards, but his next recruit might be a hard sell.  
**Length:** ~650 words  
**Prompt:** market  
**Disclaimer:** Only the words are mine, and that's probably up for philosophical title inspired by the song of the same name by Ivy.  
**Dedication:** You. For reading. You're amazing, did you know that?  
**Author's Notes:** See the first part for disclaimer and notes. Additional notes at end.

* * *

High Ground

"Do you know what you're asking me to do?" Jeb said, eyeing his father critically as flies buzzed around their heads in the palace stables.

Cain nodded. "But it's nothing more than what I'm asking anyone else to do."

"I can't believe you can just forget—"

"I haven't forgotten anything." Cain was glad that they were managing a civil conversation, but it wouldn't stay that way if they kept going the way they were. "But they aren't the same person."

"The hell they are."

"Jeb, I've been attached to the Princess for over a year. You think I wouldn't know by now? Besides, I've got her detail fixed already—"

"But that's going to rotate. Right? You mentioned it before."

Cain frowned. He was hoping that his son would have forgotten that early conversation.

"It will."

"And I'll be forced to watch _her_ back."

"I've been managing it for a while now."

"Not quite sure how you did that either."

Cain sighed. "If you're not going to actually think about this, then just say so and be done so I can stop wasting both our time. You know we're not the only ones hurt by the Sorceress. And we weren't the worst, either."

"Yeah. A lot of those guys used to be under my command."

It was a near thing, but Cain managed not to roll his eyes. "You know Clayton Tayborne?"

Jeb frowned, thinking. "Wasn't he… Wasn't he a Tin Man? I think he was a rookie when the war started."

Cain nodded. "Had a young family by the time he got out of the Academy. Three kids under 13 annuals. Good man. All's he's got now is the oldest, and he's in the Academy. The rest, his wife and the other two kids, were killed in the war. Almost all directly because of the Sorceress' orders."

Jeb swore. "You talking to him, too?"

"_Talked_. I got him on first rotation with the Princess."

"Hell you do."

"I wish you'd stop swearing so much, Jeb. Your mother wouldn't like it."

Unexpectedly, that got a smile out of his son. "Mom was no saint."

Grinning in return, Cain could only nod. "No, but she tried to keep her past as a wind-sailor under wraps. So the neighbors wouldn't ask too many questions."

It was an old joke, but Jeb laughed anyway.

"So you'll think about it at least? I mean, give it real, serious consideration?"

"I'd be leaving a good post with the Army."

"I know. But I'm only recruiting the best, and you're one of the best. You'll only be with the Princess 3 months out of 12," Cain added. "Everyone rotates through the entire royal family. Including me."

"So there's three captains and you?"

"Four lieutenants and me. But it'll hold the same rank as a captain in the army."

Jeb considered that for a moment, before asking, "Who else are you talking to?"  
"I got a couple of names, but nothing's certain. I'm just going down the list I've got in my head."

Jeb thought on that for a minute. Then he nodded.

Cain's eyebrows drew together. "You'll do it?"

"I'll think about it, like you asked, but since taking this position means that I might some day be called upon to give my life up for the Princess Azkadellia I need to know who else I'll be serving with first."

"Fair enough. So you'll think about it and I'll get back to you. That 'bout sum it up?"

"Yes, sir, it does."

Smiling, Cain extended his hand.

Jeb shook it. "What're you so happy about."

"Honestly? That went a lot better than I thought it would."

Fin[ite]

* * *

**AN2:** After this story, I have 2 more ready to go so that's at least another two weeks of actual content before I fall off again. But better than my year+ silence last time, right? Right? Guys...?


	14. Fuss

**Title:** Fuss  
**Series:** Quick, Painless and Easy  
**Author:** Vashti  
**Rating:** PG  
**Summary:** Cain and Ahamo wonder, and worry, about the Princess Azkadellia's mysterious project.  
**Length:** ~1100 words  
**Prompt:** fuss  
**Disclaimer:** Only the words are mine, and that's probably up for philosophical title inspired by the song of the same name by Ivy.  
**Dedication:** You. For reading. You're amazing, did you know that?  
**Author's Notes:** See the first part for disclaimer and notes. Additional notes at end.

* * *

Hands fluttering over the misshapen embellishments that looked like a cross between ruffles and open mouths, Princess Azkadellia hesitated by the servant's entrance near the kitchens. She'd given up on using the stable entrance after coming across her mother that first time back from her work in the square. The servants gave less care to her appearance than the Queen did, at least outwardly. Whatever they might say amongst themselves beyond her hearing was their prerogative. They had as much a right to their opinions of her as everyone else. Or so Tayborne had reported her saying.

Cain had no reason to disbelieve the lieutenant. He could almost picture the Princess saying it, too. It was hard to reconcile those bold words with the woman quietly fretting by the door, surrounded by three strong, clever men. Watching her, he wondered why the Princess continued to do this. The festivities were a few days away. There was no need to put herself through this anymore. And from what he understood, it would all be burned up in the end anyway.

Though he was sure Tayborne, Hines and Sherman knew he was there, Cain hung back so as not to startle the Princess. Azkadellia had been very skittish about her project, dancing around the subject whenever it was brought up. Though it was in Central City's main public square, and visible to anyone who happened by, no one in the Royal Family had enough moments to spare to stop and see her handiwork. Which included everyone who worked for the Royal Family. Cain couldn't be sure whether it was out of loyalty or embarrassment on the Princess' behalf, but no one on her detail would tell him anything either. Though he hadn't come out with the intention to join the Princess' party to see the...thing...for himself, Cain figured he might as well.

Until he was startled, himself, by a heavy hand dropping on his shoulder. Cain spun around, reaching for his sidearm. Until he saw it was the Consort. "Your High-"

"Not here," Ahamo said, shushing Cain. "I don't want to give myself away too soon."

Cain nodded, stepping back from his liege. Standing very still, Ahamo watched his daughter fret and twist on her feet. Cain was pleased when Sherman, standing at the rear, acknowledged them with a slight nod.

Azkadellia took a deep breath. Her men tensed behind her, not relaxing even when she nodded to herself and stepped away from the door.

Cain thought it was a good thing that Ahamo was a tall man. He had to stretch his long legs to catch up to his daughter's purposeful stride. The princess visibly started when she felt the hand on her shoulder, but, from what Cain could see standing behind them all, her expression seemed to remain neutral.

"Daddy..."

"Where're you off too, sweetheart?"

The fretting was back as she twisted her hands together at her waist. "Just...off. To see about my project."

"Ah, yes, the infamous project," Ahamo said. Cain could hear the smile in his voice. Everything about the man's manner was soft and soothing, calming, the way one might approach a skittish horse. Though the animals were mostly gentle, they could still crush an uncareful man; their raw power deserved respect. Ahamo gently slid one of his hands down his daughter's nearer arm as if in a caress but, instead of stopping at her elbow, he deftly maneuvered his much larger hand around her worried fingers, engulfing them. He frowned. "You're cold, Az."

"Am I?"

"Yes, sweetheart, you are." Cupping her hands in both of his now, he brought them up to his mouth and blew on them. Holding them close, he brushed the back of one hand across her cheek. "You're very cold, Az. Are you sure you're all right?" he asked, even as he pulled her close.

Cain watched as the Princess seemed to melt into her father. She nodded against the Consort's shoulder, but otherwise didn't answer. The men standing behind them carefully studied anything except the pair of royals as the embrace went on. Cain couldn't imagine ever having a moment like the one he was witnessing with Jeb, but he thought that if he'd had a daughter instead of son... Well...

Taking a deep breath, the Princess straightened her spine and pulled away from her father. Her hands were still in his. "I'm okay, Daddy.

Ahamo caressed her cheek again. "Are you sure?"

She sniffed loudly, but nodded. "Still a little cold but...I'm better now."

Slowly, and reluctantly to Cain's eye, the Consort released his daughter's hands. "If you're sure."

"Yes, I'm sure," she said as she clasped her hands behind her back.

"Your mother and I are here for you, Az. I know things have been busy, and perhaps we've seemed to be too busy for you girls, but we're not. Ever." He tucked a stray wisp of hair back into the severe bun it had escaped from. "Okay?"

The Princess nodded. "Okay." She dropped her eyes, as if trying to figure something out. When she raised them again, the Consort was still standing there, waiting as patient as could be. She shook her head. "Never mind."

"Az-"

"No, Daddy. It's okay. You'll all see it later. I...I need to do this..." She closed her eyes. "I need to finish this project myself."

"Sweetheart, you don't have to," he said.

"I know." Looking lighter than she had since Cain had started trailing her, she closed her eyes and tilted her chin.

Ahamo looked at her strangely for a moment, long enough for the hands behind the Princess' back to start fidgeting again. Then he chuckled. "How could I forget..." He gently rested both hands on Azkadellia's shoulders, leaned in and kissed her forehead. "Go have fun."

A small smile on her face, she turned away from her father and continued her determined march to the Central City square.

Turned away from Cain as he was, the Consort's face was impossible to see, but his shoulders were high with tension and his calves flexed and stretched in their tailored slacks. Cain waited for the man to turn around. It wasn't like the Princess was going anywhere mysterious that he couldn't catch up to her later, after all.

Eventually Ahamo came walking back towards him. When he was nearly past, he stopped and said, "If I could, I'd raise the Sorceress so I could kill her with my own bare hands."

Cain dipped his head. He knew what the other man meant.

Ahamo clapped him on the shoulder then went on his way.

Fin[ite]

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**AN2:** I really intended to have this chapter up a week after "High Ground" was posted. And then real life, with it's internet and time thieving ways, struck. There's one more written story. Fingers crossed that it goes up next weekend.


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